Barcode Tracking Technology Helps Combat Counterfeit Drug Spread

A powerful coding and validation system to mark uniquely pharmaceuticals and related healthcare products could prove invaluable as an anticounterfeit measure in the international drug market.

The Innomech unique barcode labeling system will enable manufacturers to mark their products with a code that is either unique to the item, or shared by only a small number of items produced together. The unobtrusive code mark is a two-dimensional (2D) dot matrix printed identifier--linked to a searchable database--that acts as an access key to more detailed information, such as the specific batch codes of raw materials used during production, the time of manufacture, the production line, and other relevant information. Any person should be able to check whether it is genuine, by referring to an online database that tracks which code marks have been produced by reputable manufacturers.

The codes can be printed or laser etched onto most products, applied to virtually any substrate, and can even be added onto the surface of pharmaceutical capsules or coated tablets. The matrix codes can be as small as 2 mm by 2 mm, while holding the code for up to 10 billion numbers. The codes can also be read by widely available bar scan readers, or in many cases from a picture taken with even the simplest camera phone, making them ideal in the battle against counterfeit medicines. The barcode labeling system is being developed by GB Innomech (Cambridge, United Kingdom).

"Innomech is now working with several clients to help adjust their manufacturing processes to incorporate this powerful new approach, and enable products to be much more easily marked than has previously been possible," said Steve Robertson, managing director of Innomech.

The World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) estimates that around 50% of all medicines sold in online shops are worthless counterfeits and that in developing nations, fake tablets, or capsules may account for as much as 30% of all drugs on the market. The risk these counterfeits pose is considerable; for example, during the 1995 meningitis epidemic in Niger, over 50,000 people were inoculated with fake vaccines containing only tap water, resulting in 2,500 deaths.


Related Links:

GB Innomech

World Health Organization